Sermons, commentary on current events, and devotional thoughts from an evangelical Wesleyan perspective.

Saturday, August 09, 2008

SERMON: BATTLING THE STORM

BATTLING THE STORM29 June 2008

I. Introduction -- turn in Bibles to Luke 8

22. One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. 23. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. 24. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." 26. They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture me!" 29. For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. 30. Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31. And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. 32. A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. 33. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 34. When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35. and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. 38. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39. "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

-- a few weeks ago, we talked about the concept of spiritual strongholds -- of how the people and places in our world can fall under spiritual influence and authority -- and we talked about how there are two kinds of spiritual strongholds -- satanic strongholds -- places of evil where Satan controls what is happening -- and Godly strongholds -- places of righteousness, where the Kingdom of God controls what is happening -- and, if you remember, we pointed out that as Christians, we are called to wage war against the evil spiritual strongholds in our land -- in our state -- in our communities -- and, secondly, we are called to establish Christian spiritual strongholds in their place -- this morning, I want us to look at a couple of familiar passages -- the story of Jesus calming the sea and the story of the man from Gerasenes released from demons -- in a different light and a different context -- usually, we hear these stories separately -- we never consider them together -- but all three of the synoptic gospels -- Matthew, Mark, and Luke -- join these passages together in such a way that you can't help but think they are related -- and when you look at them in the light of Jesus confronting a spiritual stronghold in His land, they take on a completely different meaning -- so, let's go directly to the Scriptures and see what we can learn from these two familiar stories this morning

II. Scripture Lesson -- if you would, look back at verse 22

22. One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out.

-- this passage occurs relatively early in Jesus' ministry -- He has been traveling around the countryside, preaching and teaching to the people -- and large crowds had started following Him -- as this passage opens, Jesus has just finished teaching a large crowd of people along the western shore of the Sea -- or Lake, as Luke likes to call it -- of Galilee -- now that He has finished, Jesus tells His disciples it was time to get in the boat and go to the other side of the sea -- and you need to understand what is going on -- by telling them to go to the other side of the sea, Jesus is telling His disciples, "Let's go to the bad part of town" -- you see, the eastern shore of Galilee was the site of the Decapolis -- a group of ten Gentile cities situated along the lake and along the Jordan River -- these were not followers of Yahweh -- these people did not believe in God or worship Him in His temple -- they did not follow the laws of Moses -- they were unclean people who lived in unclean ways according to the Jews -- and now Jesus wanted to go pay them a visit -- specifically, he wanted to go to the region called Gerasenes or Gadarenes along the southeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee -- the question is, "Why?" -- well, I think there's two reasons -- first, Jesus had just shared with His followers a series of teachings and parables about the kingdom of heaven -- and I think He was trying to point out to His followers that to enter the kingdom of heaven, you have to do more than just talk about it -- you have to do something -- you have to take action -- so, secondly, Jesus was intentionally going to an evil place -- to a spiritual stronghold of Satan -- so that He could open the eyes of the disciples to the spiritual battle that was ever present around them and to challenge them to take up the battle through Him -- the "other side of the lake" represented all that -- and so Jesus and the disciples got into a boat and headed across the lake

-- verse 23

23. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. 24. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."

-- you know, I grew up hearing this story in Sunday School from the time I was a little kid -- we've probably all heard this story of Jesus calming the sea -- but you know what I always found fascinating about this passage? -- the reaction of the disciples -- you've got to remember -- a lot of them were fishermen -- we know for sure that Peter and Andrew and James and John were fishermen -- they had spent their whole lives on the Sea of Galilee in boats just like this -- I have no doubt that they had been through storm after storm -- they had seen the squall lines develop in the west -- they had felt the wind pick up and start to toss their nets -- they knew what it meant -- and they had ridden out these storms many times -- they were fishermen -- this is what they did -- just the other night, we were watching "Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery Channel -- the show about the crab fishermen in the Bering Strait off of Alaska -- and those guys were in the midst of a ferocious winter storm -- the waves were cresting over 30 feet in height -- the ship was being picked up and slammed down and waves were crashing over the deck -- and the captain is drinking coffee and his deck hands were calmly putting out the crab traps -- it was a bad storm, but it was nothing to them -- it was just part of the life of a fisherman -- so why did the disciples react so strongly in the midst of this storm? -- you really wouldn't have thought that Peter and Andrew and James and John would have been worried, would you? -- surely they would have told the other disciples, "Hey, relax, we've been through this before -- we can handle it" -- but they don't -- Luke says they panicked -- their boat was getting swamped with waves -- and so they cried out to Jesus, "Wake up -- save us -- we're perishing -- we're going to drown" -- and so Jesus -- who had been asleep in the bow of the boat in the midst of the rain and the wind and the crashing waves -- woke up and stood up and calmed the storm -- this is the story that we've all heard growing up -- Jesus calmed the storm -- but there's something else in this passage that I want you to see -- look back at the second part of verse 24

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.

-- Jesus "rebuked" the storm -- the dictionary tells us that the word "rebuke" means to "censure something severely or angrily -- to criticize -- to reprove or scold or reprimand something" -- now isn't that odd? -- all three of the synoptic gospels say the same thing -- Jesus "rebuked" the storm -- it's almost like the storm was intentionally doing something wrong -- it's almost like it was trying to stop Jesus and the disciples from going forward -- it's almost like it was a battle -- and I think it was -- remember, Jesus is going to the "other side of the lake" to confront a spiritual stronghold -- a place of evil held by Satan -- and I can guarantee you that Satan didn't want any part of it -- it very well could be that Satan or one of his demons whipped up this storm and sent it against the disciples to keep them from landing at Gerasenes -- this could explain why the disciples were so scared of this storm -- it was unnatural -- it was supernatural -- it was something that they had never seen before and knew they couldn't confront on their own -- this could also explain Jesus' comment to the disciples in verse 25, "where's your faith?" -- perhaps Jesus was talking about their faith in His ability to confront the supernatural forces that were arrayed against them -- now, most of the time we end the story there -- Jesus calms the storm -- but if you connect this story with the next, you get a clearer picture of what is truly going on -- look at verse 26

26. They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town.

-- when the boat with Jesus and His disciples finally landed "on the other side of the lake," look at what came out to meet them -- a man possessed by demons -- it's almost like he was waiting for them -- it's almost like he was expecting them -- it's almost like he knew they were coming -- that's one reason why I believe this was a supernatural storm that came against Jesus and the disciples -- Satan was trying to keep them away from his spiritual stronghold -- he was trying to keep the Word of God from the eastern shore of Galilee -- but Jesus had other plans -- look back at verse 27

27. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture me!" 29. For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. 30. Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31. And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. 32. A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. 33. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

-- this demoniac was the sign-post of an evil spiritual stronghold -- Jesus had warned His disciples to watch out for false prophets and false teachers -- He had warned them to watch out for evil hidden in their midst -- in Matthew 7:16-17, Jesus said that we would recognize them by their fruit, because a bad tree bears bad fruit -- any time you come against an evil spiritual stronghold, you can recognize it by its fruit -- as Beth Moore pointed out in one of her studies, "the pure basics of human dignity are often targets of demonic assault" -- in this case, the fruit of the demonic assault against the dignity of this man are obvious -- the demons had stolen his sanity -- they had taken over his mind -- they had stolen his dignity, and left him naked for all the world to see -- they had stolen from him the necessities of life -- leaving him without food or clothes or a home -- and they had stolen from him his humanity -- forcing him to live in the tombs isolated from those who knew him and loved him -- by their fruit, you will recognize them -- but this man was just the poster child for a lost civilization -- for a region that lived apart from God -- for a region that was under Satan's influence -- that is why Satan tried to stop Jesus from landing on the shore -- that is why the storm came up against Him -- but you can't keep Jesus from going where He wants to go -- you can't stop the Word of God from going forth -- and with a word, Jesus released this man from his prison -- He cast out the demons that were in him and sent them into a herd of pigs that were feeding near-by -- why pigs? -- the Bible tells us that God has made a prison for demons called the Abyss -- why didn't Jesus send the demons there? -- why did He send them into the pigs? -- I think He did it to make a point -- for Jews, pigs represented the unclean -- Jews were forbidden to eat pigs -- to tend pigs -- to touch pigs -- and by sending the demons into the pigs, Jesus was clearly saying, "I have power to cleanse the unclean -- I have power to release the captives -- I have power over the evil strongholds in this land -- and I have come to do just that -- starting with this man -- and starting with this symbol of uncleanness before us" -- and so the demons went into the pigs -- the pigs went into the sea and drowned

-- verse 34

34. When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35. and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.

-- notice how the presence of Jesus restored the dignity of this man who had been released from the demons -- when the townspeople got back to the site, the man was sitting with Jesus fully restored -- he was dressed and in his right mind -- and the townspeople were shocked -- surprisingly, the people didn't want anything to do with Jesus -- they were afraid of Him and of the power He had expressed in freeing this man -- and so they begged Jesus to leave -- you know, people always have a choice -- to either receive Jesus and the Word of God -- to accept it as their own on faith -- or to reject it -- these people rejected Jesus and so Jesus left -- God will not stay where He is not welcome -- but He will always leave a door open for those who want to join Him -- verse 38

38. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39. "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

-- the former demoniac wanted to go with Jesus -- but Jesus wouldn't let him go -- Jesus had other plans for him, and told him to stay and to share the good news with the people of that region -- this man, who once was under the influence of Satan, now became the first evangelist in this place -- carrying the battle to the heart of the spiritual strongholds in that land -- and carrying the Word of God in his heart

III. Closing -- in the late 1950's, a little-known pastor in Pennsylvania named David Wilkerson was reading a Life magazine one day when God pointed out a spiritual stronghold to him -- the magazine had a photograph of a trial in New York City of seven teenagers accused of murder -- and as he looked at the faces of these young men, he felt a prompting by the Holy Spirit to do something -- so, in 1958, David Wilkerson went "to the other side of the lake" -- he went to the inner city of New York armed only with the Word of God -- he went into the heart of a spiritual stronghold and began to minister to the young men and women there who were caught up in a cycle of drugs and violence and crime -- along the way, he passed through many storms that threatened to overwhelm him -- but his faith didn't waver -- and his resolve stood strong -- and he continued to preach the Word of God in that place -- one day, when Wilkerson was preaching in the streets, he was confronted by Nicky Cruz, the leader of the notorious Mau-Maus gang -- Wilkerson told Cruz that God loved him and would never stop loving him -- Cruz cussed him out and threatened to kill him -- later that day, Wilkerson went to the gang's headquarters to see Cruz, and Cruz slapped him -- Wilkerson then broke down crying and prayed for Cruz in that place -- two weeks later, Wilkerson started preaching in a church in that neighborhood -- when Cruz heard about it, he decided to go and teach preacher a "lesson" and, with some of the members of his gang, he headed for the church where the rally was being held -- as Wilkerson preached, Cruz said he began to feel guilty about all the things he had done and started to pray -- Wilkerson prayed with him, and Cruz accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior -- the next day, Cruz and the rest of the gang members who had come to Christ quit their gang and went to the police and turned in all their weapons -- a spiritual stronghold had been broken -- a life had been changed -- and today, Nicky Cruz is an evangelist who preaches the love of Christ all over the world

-- the last time we talked about spiritual strongholds, I encouraged you to begin praying about them and asking God to extend His grace and His power throughout those areas -- as we leave here today, I want to urge you to follow in the footsteps of Jesus -- go to the other side of the lake -- don't be afraid of the storms that might come against you -- but go through them, trusting that Jesus will calm the storms and make clear the path for His word to go forth -- what does it take to make a difference in the world today? -- just one person -- one man or one woman -- sold out to God -- who is willing to take a stand -- will you be that person today? -- let us pray